9

Abbie woke up when a nurse walked into the room to check on her IV. "Don't suppose these IV bags come in chocolate milkshake flavor?" She joked.

"Unfortunately not." She nurse smiled, "How are you feeling?"

"Sore, but not too bad. Hungry. When can I escape?"

"We'll need to see what the doctor says tomorrow." The nurse answered, writing in Abbie's chart. "Your BP's back to normal, pulse ox is good, and you're conscious. A big improvement on earlier tonight. Get some sleep and we'll see what the doctor says."

"Thank you." Abbie looked over towards the window, seeing Dean asleep on a chair beside her bed, now stirring. "Hey." Abbie whispered, seeing him waken slightly.

"Hey." Dean sat up straighter, "How you doing?"

"That sounds like a bad chat up line." Abbie laughed, then winced, laughing hurt. "I'm ok."

"You're in a hospital bed, recovering from major surgery because a demon threw you against a wall, and you're ok?" Dean asked, cynically.

"I'm alive." Abbie responded, "Bit sore, but it could've been worse. What time is it?"

Dean glanced at his watch, "A little after 3 am."

"What are you still doing here?"

"I was sleeping." Dean grumbled, "Never get a good night's sleep with you around." He joked.

"Sorry."

Dean smiled, in spite of his earlier anger and worry, "I'm going to grab a coffee from the machine."

"Bring me back a cheeseburger?"

"Sign says Nil by Mouth, sweetheart." Dean pointed to the note above Abbie's bed. "Why don't I ask the nurse if you can have something from the machine, chips or something, ok?"

"How bout cafeteria apple pie?" She asked, "I feel like I've not eaten for a week."

"The cafeteria has apple pie?" Dean grinned, "You sure?"

"Every cafeteria has pie." Abbie told him, seriously, "It's one of the main food groups."

"I'll be back in a minute." Dean laughed, walking out to the nurse's station. "Hi, Abbie West in Room 3, she's asking if she's allowed to eat anything."

"Well, she is on IV nutrition, but maybe something light..."

"She's hoping for pie." Dean grinned.

"No pie." The nurse answered, "Believe me, she's had general anaesthesia, pie is not good. Especially in reverse."

"Neither is a cheeseburger, huh?" Dean laughed. "She's gonna hate me."

"I'll bring through some dry toast." The nurse told him, "You're still allowed pie though."

"Nah, that'd be cruel. I'd end up in a hospital bed myself." Dean answered, "Thank you, I'm just gonna get myself a coffee. I'm guessing she's not allowed that either."

"Guessed right. I told her she should be getting some sleep if she wants out of here."

"She doesn't like to do as she's told." Dean told the nurse as she walked away from the desk, allowing Dean to get himself a coffee and snack.

"How come you get coffee and a donut?" Abbie asked Dean as he sat down beside her bed again. "All I got was this." She pointed to the toast she was nibbling on. "How bout a slurp of coffee and a bite of your donut?"

"How bout 'no'." Dean answered, taking an extra long drink of his coffee and large bite of his donut.

"I hate you."

"I know you do." He grinned, "You're supposed to be asleep by the way."

"You try sleeping when they come in to poke and prod you all damn night." Abbie mumbled, Dean thought about using this time to give Abbie an 'I told you so' speech but decided against it. "Did Sam and Bobby go back to the motel?"

"Yeah. They'll be back tomorrow."

"Why did you stay?"

"Someone's gotta keep you outta trouble." Dean answered, "I've not done a good job so far."

"It's not your job and if I'd listened to you, we wouldn't be here, would we? I'm a big girl, Dean, I don't need a babysitter."

"You don't?" Dean scoffed.

"So, you stayed because you see it as your job to look after me." Abbie questioned him, "Your responsibility."

"I'm here, ok? Let's not over analyse this." Dean's conversation with Bobby ran through his mind.

"So, what happens when I get out of here. You don't want me around in case I slow you down? Too much hassle?" Abbie asked, not looking at Dean, feeling stupid for going to the bar and for her stupid body letting her down. "I understand."

"No, you're going home to Bobby's place, until you're well. Bobby will teach you everything you need to know, in a safe environment. I know you want to be out there, fighting these things, but you need to slow down, learn it. You don't just jump straight in."

"How long have you been hunting?"

"My mom was hunting before I was even born, Dad took over when she died, I was four. Growing up, I didn't hunt, I looked after Sam, Dad trained us in between hunts. Starting taking me out with him when I was maybe 13. So I've been doing this a long time."

"Didn't you ever want to do anything else? Something normal?"

"I'm not your typical 9-5 guy." Dean answered, "Sam, he wanted to do something normal, but it didn't work out."

"What happened?"

"Demon that killed Mom, killed Sam's girlfriend Jessica right in front of him. He was pre law at Stanford, after that he hit the road with me, and we've been hunting ever since. Guess hunting is just the Winchester way, it's in our blood I guess."

"You never said if you wanted to be normal."

"Can we change the subject?" Dean asked, this conversation was getting too personal. "I like it at Bobby's Salvage yard, messing about with cars. Maybe I'd have been a mechanic or something."

"Well, I, for one, am glad that you do what you do." Abbie stated, surprising Dean. "Another hunter may not have saved me, might've just killed me or left me to just get on with it."

"This kinda life, it's not easy."

"Who said I wanted easy, Dean?" Abbie told him, "I'm in this for the long haul. I know it's gonna be tough, but it's worth it, isn't it? Saving people."

Dean nodded, thinking ahead to his own fate, fast approaching. "You need to get some sleep if you want outta here." Abbie nodded and closed her eyes, Dean sat for a while, replaying his and Bobby's conversation and his conversation with Abbie, when he was disturbed by yet another nurse. "Do you need to do that again, she's just fallen back asleep."

"On your own?" The nurse asked Dean, "Unusual to see you without your baby brother." She looked at Abbie, "Ah, I see, you don't want to share with Sam this time?" The nurse laughed. "Who'd have thought a girl of all things could come between the dynamic duo?"

"I don't know who the hell you are...but you'd better get the hell outta here before-" Dean snarled.

"Before what?" The nurse asked, revealing black eyes.

"Before I send your ass-"

"Dean?" Abbie asked, waking up, "What-"

"Welcome back sleeping beauty. You're like a cockroach, just keep coming back for more. Allying yourself with this one wasn't a good move...I'd have stuck with Sam personally, longer shelf life."

"Watch your mouth, bitch." Dean answered, moving closer to the demon.

"That's right, you were gonna send me back weren't you?" The demon teased Dean, "I'm waiting..."

" Exorcizamus te..." Dean started, then stuttered, he'd never done this without a book. The demon just laughed, and glared at him, then Abbie.

"Your turn?" She told Abbie, who took a deep breath and tried to remember frantically the words Bobby had told her earlier.

"Exorcizamus te, Omnis immundus spiritus..." She gasped out.

"Omnis satanica..." Dean finished, watching as the demon left the nurse confused on the floor. "I can't believe they came after you...I thought we'd be safe."

"I want to get out of here." Abbie whispered, puling at her IV needle. "It's not safe."

"Normally, I'd be trying to convince you to stay, but the motel's probably safest." Dean answered, checking the readout on Abbie's chart, indicating that vitals were ok and she was stable. "I'm calling Sam, get him to bring the car, get you out of here." He pulled out his cell phone, and called Sam. "Ok, we need to get you downstairs to the entrance."

"Can you do that?"

"Are you forgetting who you're speaking to? Course I can." He walked to the door, then disappeared down the hall, Abbie watched curiously, then frowned as nurses all ran in one direction.

"Stroke of luck?" She asked, still fiddling with the IV, grimacing as she managed to remove it. Dean just laughed, "Lucky that Mr Jones chose this time to crash."

"What did you do?"

"Just pressed his alarm button, he's fine." Dean assured her, picking her up from the bed, blanket wrapped around her. "Ready?" She nodded, and wrapped her arms around his neck. He walked as quickly as he could without running and causing Abbie more pain. After carefully negotiating halls to avoid any security, they found the busy entrance where they could blend in.

"Dean!" Sam called, seeing his brother, and running over to him. "Here, I'll take her." He offered, noting how exhausted his brother looked. Dean wordlessly handed her over, following Sam to the car, and automatically getting into the back seat, waiting for Sam to hand Abbie back to him.

"Let's get you guys back to the motel, should she even be out of the hospital, Dean?" Sam asked, watching both of them in the rear view mirror.

"Probably not, but she's stable, and safer with us." Dean answered, hoping that it was true.